Irving, John: A Son of the Circus / Widow for One Year / A Sound like Someone Trying Not to Make a Sound / The Fourth Hand / Until I Find You / The Water-Method Man / A Prayer for Owen Meany /The Cider House Rules(+ALL)

Ishiguro, Kazuo: Never Let Me Go

Jansson, Tove: Moomin books

Jerome, Jerome K: Diary of a Pilgrimage / Three Men in a Boat / Three Men on a Bummel

Yeahhh, snowsomewhere, congratulations for being the first on here to give me your book! First I will put it in my list and when the time comes, I will read it. (Having plans to do more offline reading again when the sun burns www :D)

That is an incredibly long list and I have only read a handful of them. I have a very difficult time choosing a favorite book. A few books that I have enjoyed reading: Cutting for Stone, Girl in Hyacinth Blue, Clara and Mr. Tiffany, Life of Pi, Light Between Oceans, Man’s Search for Meaning, Mudbound, Olive Kitteridge, The Angel Makers, The Blind Assassin, The Book Thief, Orphan Train, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, The Invention of Wings, The Silver Linings Playbook, Treasure Island!!! (by Sara Levine), The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion, A Tale for the Time Being, A Land More Kind Than Home, Pigeon English, and The Vagrants. Sorry for the long list and its lack of authors. I am currently reading: The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton.

Oh my, this list is amazing!! And then even more books to read in the comments section!! What a creative thing to set up, thank you so so much!!! Right now I am reading Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim. It is actually quite a challenge and I have an audible version, too, so I read and I listen at the same time. I also have to read the chapters twice. However, the depth of understanding of human nature and the incredible writing make it worth the while for me.

Thank you, Carol. 🙂 The books in the comments have been added to the list already. Does this mean that Lord Jim is your addition to the list? Would you like to add some more of your favourites? I’d be glad. Always welcome to return. I remember reading Lord Jim for my studies a long time ago. I guess I should read it again.

My favorite book is “A Confederacy of Dunces” by John Kennedy Toole. A madcap, hilarious yet somehow heartbreaking account of a young man’s lunatic adventures while living in New Orleans with his elderly mother. It won a Pulitzer. Tragically, the author committed suicide prior to ever realizing the fruits of his labor though his mother worked endlessly to have manuscript read and ultimately published.

Fab list! Some of my favourites include: The Outermost House by Henry Beston, A Glastonbury Romance by John Cowper Powys (not really a romance, by the way), and The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham.

That’s a long list, but will take a look closely to find something interesting for myself lol.. I was just thinking these days that I didn’t really find a good book to read, recently.. and here you go! I just found your blog! The providence is leading my steps:) Great blog btw! And to add something, one of my favourite author is James Clavell (all his novels = The Asian Saga).

Thank you, Christie, for your kind words, follow and the book! I don’t think anybody anywhere has read all of these. 😀 So just go slowly as I’ve been doing. It’s so great getting the favourites by people, sometimes I feel it’s the best thing one can get me. Enjoy the summer and a good book, or three, or seven, or 159.

This is such an inspiring list, how many have you read since you made the list? Catch-22 and Ender’s Game are probably my favourite books (aside from Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings), I really hope you enjoy/enjoyed them!

Some new suggestions for you:
The Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay is about the narrator, Aunt Dot and her camel as they go trekking around Turkey in the 1950s (ish). It’s a weird little book but I loved it.
The Playmakers by Thomas Keneally is about putting on a play in the first prison colony in Australia. I found it really tragic and beautiful, because it’s all about people and relationships and power.
Another book with similar themes is The Edwardians by Vita Sackville-West. I warn you that the ending is very unsatisfactory but the rest of the book is fantastic.
Finally, have you ever read Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome? It’s a childrens book which I loved when I was younger. A movie version is coming out soon so you could just watch that, it’s an adventure story 🙂

Building on the authors you have already, I have some further suggestions:
I’ve never heard of/read The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante but I read the Neopolitan novels (starting with My Brilliant Friend) and they probably literally changed my life.
My favourite book by George Orwell is Down and Out in Paris and London. It’s partly autobiographical and it deals with the political and social issues of his fiction works but in a more opaque way which I definitely prefer.
I’ve read a few things by Salman Rushdie and my favourite by far is Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Again, it’s a children’s book but it’s awesome (and very short!)
Finally, the best Discworld novels are obviously Reaper Man and Pyramids. They are the only ones I bought after reading the library version. I guess you should probably read The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic first, just to get into the world, but then after that read Reaper Man!

Ok, I’m done. Is that under 10? I hope you don’t mind being overwhelmed by books… Thank you for asking me to do this, it was really fun 🙂

ps. Is Outlander by Diana Gabaldon on this because of the TV series? Do you watch it? I love it 🙂

I’m so glad I asked you, I’ll be happy to add your suggestions to my list. I’ve only read Haroun. Please bear in mind that these are mostly other people’s suggestions (except for my ten or so, I shall set them in italics or something like that :D). What happened was that I’d asked family, friends and internet pals for their birthday gifts to me in the shape of their favourite book title. So these are all somebody’s favourites and I’m reading through them rather slowly. Also, I have not watched any series since…. hm… I think “Touch” was last, about 5 years ago. In any case, thank you very very much!!

I’m glad you have Primo Levi in your list! His books have been a true gift for me.
The Periodic Table is great, but I would tell you to read “If this is a man” and “The truce” first. The first one is life-changing, you won’t be the same anymore once you read it. The only thing is that you should prepare yourself first, as he talks about his experience in Auschwitz…it’s tough. But I promise, there aren’t crude details: it’s not a book about concentration camps, it’s almost a philosophical book about life and the human being. A must-read for sure.

No, I haven’t, and if I saw it somewhere with the synonym, I wouldn’t even know it was her. Thank you, will include it and read it if I get the chance most gladly. Thank you very much for your contribution to my list!

I was thinking about having “one favourite book” but I actually can’t decide.
Here are some I liked or think I would be less of a person if I haven’t read them:

Upsetting book: Emile Ajar: The Life Before Us
Dog book: Dan Rhodes: Timoleon Vieta Come Home
Detective book: Andrea Camilleri’s Montalbano series (only the German translation – the English one is neither fish nor meat. Of course if you read Italian, that’s the best – unfortunately, I don’t)
Humorous: anything by P.G. Wodehouse
Children’s book: Arthur Ransome: Swallows and Amazons (the whole series, my favourites are Pidgeon Post and Winter Holiday)
Recent read I liked: Alina Bronsky: The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine (NOT a cookbook)

I could go on and on but I’ll refrain myself because books are many and life is short :DDD

Excellent, Ada, I’m so glad you gave my your favourites, from different categories no less. I don’t read Italian, yet, but I plan to. I’m sad to hear the English translation is no good. I felt the same reading Pippi in English for the first time. It’s so… bare! I’ll put these on my list most gladly. Thank you very much!

You’re welcome :o) It is funny, but translation does really matter. Some people just don’t speak their native language well enough to do translating jobs – I haven’t read a good Hungarian translation since years. It’s actually pretty sad.

A lot of my favorites are already here but, hidden deep in the darkest corners of my Goodreads list, I found a few that aren’t 🙂 My favorite Vonnegut book is “Player Piano”, a dystopian masterpiece. When I was younger I loved Ursula LeGuin’s “Earthsea” trilogy. Now that I’m old but still a geek I’m a big fan of Simon Singh (“The Fermat Theorem” is my fave) and Cixin Liu, a Chinese sci-fi author that’s nothing short of an Asimov (“Remembrance of Earth’s Past” is incredible) – Verne

Yeah, Verne, thanks so much! I read Player Piano but not the others. Must say that I used to buy every Vonnegut’s book I saw but then they mostly sort of blended into one great book. Need to reread it and recall. Will put them on the list as soon as I post my post for today.

Okay, I’ll be careful with the name. It’s always a matter of translation and I haven’t read many Slovenian authors in translation, sad to say. But “Alamut” by Vladimir Bartol is wicked. Miha Mazzini is an excellent writer but don’t know how much he is translated. And Tomaž Šalamun, the greatest among the poets. And my friend, wonderful Macedonian writer Lidija Dimkovska just did an American tour with her “A Spare Life”, recommended!

Gotta try Jonathan Carroll – Sleeping in the Flame – love that author and Harlen Coben too although it took a loooong time for my Dad to convince me to give Coben a shot as a sports agent book held zero appeal to me…so glad I did!

Here are my favorites. “Big Magic” and “Signature of All things” by Elisabeth Gilbert (and of course, her “Eat Pray Love”, but you surely know this one). “1000 days in Venice” by Marlena de Blasi. “Loving what is” by Byron Katie. “The Power of Now” by E. Tolle. I am more into self-help lit than fiction.

Thank you for your list! Oh, I dearly recommend reading Eat Pray Love. I love the voice of Elisabeth Gilbert, especially in that one. Never thought I would be reading a bestseller (and loving it that much ;))

I’ve been meaning to participate. Now I actually am here, I cannot decide. I read a lot (maybe 4-7 books a week). So I don’t have just one favorite. I read a lot of mysteries and so I’ll mention these – the Last Policeman trilogy by Ben H. Winters. Any book by Sjowall/Wahloo (it is good to read them in order). Gentleman and Ladies by Susan Hill (not a mystery). OK, that is enough for today!

Oh, yes, Claudia’s choices! Thank you so much, I knew you’d come over and you’re always welcome to return with more. I’ll be happy to include these titles, unfamiliar to me, and read them when I get a chance.

Oh yes, please, Ann, do that! And in the meantime you can add a favourite of yours that it’s not on it yet. This is what this list is – a collection of people’s favourites. I’ll be happy to include yours.

Thank you so much, Liz! 🙂 I love it when people who come to my blog find my booklist. That’s why it’s here – for you. Please, you’re welcome to come over any time, get an idea or leave your own favourite(s). I’ll be happy to add them to my list. Happy reading!

Hehe, thanks, Judy! I never had ‘Manja’ and ‘ambitious’ in the same sentence before. And it didn’t start out this way: a long time ago I told people on another platform that it was my birthday and the best gift would be the title of their favourite book. And then it grew. 🙂

Ohh, and yes, I coloured that in myself, preschool. I can clearly remember how upset I was at the lack of different colours green, and that I left the trees for the end and was bored by then so I finished it off quickly. 😀

This blog is closed but continues. Visit: Manja Mexi Moving - closed

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